Corn-sheller.



No. 643,161. Patented Feb. l3, i900.

w. c. ROWE.

CORN SHELLER.

(Application filed Feb. 9, 1898.) (No Model.)

1511 M INVENTOR MW W-C-R ia, Qttow-wr ga NlTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VILLARD O. ROWE, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE UNION IRON IVORKS, INCORPORATED, OF SAME PLACE.

CORN-SHEL LER.

SPEGIFIOATIOLI forming part of Letters Patent No. 643,161, dated February 13, 1900. Application filed February 9,1898. Serial No. 669,640. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, \VILLARD O. ROWE, of

the city of Decatur, county of Macon, and

is defined in the appended claim.

The object of the invention is to provide means whereby the cone-shaft may be shifted easily andquickly and be held in any desired position.

The results attributable to the improvements are two in number. The distance between the teeth of the cone and those of the concave may be varied to suit size and condition of corn, and the sheller may be stopped and started while full of corn.

Under conditions existing previous to this invention, if by any chance the sheller should stop while running fullof corn the belt would be unable to overcome the inertia of the sheller plus the resistance of the corn, and the operators of the sheller would be put to the trouble and labor of removing the corn from the hopper and throat of the machine. This could be provided against, except in case of accident, by stopping the feed before stopping the sheller and starting the sheller comparatively empty, but inferior belts, belts run too loose, improper alinement, and high side winds frequently result in throwing the drivebelt, and this, with other accidents, makes the stoppage of shellers while running full a not unusual occurrence.

In the drawings forming apart of this specification, Figure 1 is a plan of so much of a sheller as is needed to illustrate my invention, the upper part of the concave being removed and the shelling-cone being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the mechanism used to shift the sheller-sha ft. Fig. 3 is a section on line 00 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the drive-pinion and the sheller-shaft.

The main shaft 1 of the sheller is journaled in suitable bearings in a frame, as 24, and it is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. l in this particular instance. It has a set of feeding-heaters, as 3 4 5, in the throat portionof the concave, and it has a toothed cone 2, usually called the cylinder, in the tapered portion of the concave. The beaters are set spirally on the shaft, and they are so disposed with relation to the direction of the rotation of the shaft as to tend to force the corn into the tapered portion of the sheller.

The shaft 1 is provided with a gear-pinion, as 6, which meshes with a gear-wheel 9 on counter-shaft 10 and so provides for transmitting power to the shaker and other adjuncts of the sheller. A key-seat groove l is formed in shaft 1, as shown in Fig. 4, and such groove terminates in front of the rear boxing 7 for the shaft. The shaft is shiftable lengthwise in its bearings to a limited extent, and the key-seat groove terminates at the front side of the boxing 7 when the shaft is thrown backward as far as it will go. The hub of the pinion is elongated, and in the front portion thereof is a feather 6 which is seated in groove 1*. The pinion runs close to boxing 7, and the feather occupies space in the pinion a distance from the boxing 7 equal to the longitudinal motion of the shaft. The pinion is held againstthe shafts longitudinal motion. The boxing 7 prevents the pinion from moving backward. The gear-wheeltends to prevent motion toward the front of the machine; but to relieve the gear-wheel of this work and insure perfect operation of the gearing a bracket, as 8, having fingers, as 8, cmbracing the shaft in front of the hub of the pinion may be fastened to the frame,as shown.

At one end of the frame, preferably the front end, brackets, as 16 and 18, are fastened, one on each side of the sheller-shaft, and one is supplied with pins 19, while the other has an arc-formed slot concentric with the pins.

On that portion of the shaft between the brackets is a collar 12, which is held in position by a set-screw 22. The collar has a pcripheral groove, as shown in Fig. 3, and in such groove is mounted a band, as 13, which is composed of two semicircular straps bolted together. Trunnions 14 project outward on opposite sides of the band. A lever is built up of bars and 15, as shown in Fig. 2. Such lever is pivoted on pins 19. It embraces the band 13 and engages the trunnions 14 thereof, and it swings on the slotted extension of bracket 16. The end of the lever that engages the pins 19 is slotted lengthwise to give play to the lever, and a bolt 17 extends through the slot of the bracket 16 and the bar resting thereon and provides means whereby the lever may beheld in any desired relation to the bracket.

The bar 15 is depressed intermediately to pass under the shaft. One of its ends forms a handle 15 and the other end 15 engages the downward-projecting pin 19. The bar 15 is bent to pass over'the shaft. One of its ends engages the upper pin of bracket 18 and the other is fastened to bar 15 by means of bolt 15". A strut 20 is placed between the bars of the lever, near the fulcrum thereof, and a bolt 21 extends through the bars and the strut and binds the whole together. The shaft is free to move lengthwise in its bearings and in the pinion 6, and the lever is employed to give it longitudinal motion.

lVhen on account of variation in the size of the ears of corn or for any other reason the cone needs to be set closer to or farther from the concave, the bolt 17 is loosened, the lever is swung to or from the front of the sheller to the desired extent, and the bolt is retightened. If the cone is too close to the concave, the lever is swung backward, and if it is too far away the lever is swung in the contrary direction.

WVhen for any cause the sheller stops with the hopper filled with corn, the momentum which assisted the belt in its work is entirely lost and the inertia and resistance of the corn are together too much for the belt to start. Under these conditions the lever is worked back and forth While the belt is being replaced it quickly as the belt is placed in position on the drive-pulley. The sheller may be relieved even ifrunning wide open at'the time of stoppage, as in that case the lever can be used to compress the mass in the sheller, and when the pressure is suddenly withdrawn space will be afforded for the cone to turn in.

The tendency of the cone, acting on the corn and against the concave, is to force the shaft rearward and increase the distance between the cone and the cylinder, and this of itself would interfere with free adjustment of the shaft while the machine is running; but by setting the heaters 3 4 5 spirally on the shaft and turning the shaft in a direction to cause the spiral to force the corn toward the cone the rearward pull of the cone may be nicely neutralized.

In the drawings the shaft occupies an intermediate position, from which it may be shifted either way. When it is thrown rearward to the fullest possible extent, the shoulder 1 of the key-seat groove will just reach the boxing 7, and when it is thrown in the other direction as far as it can go the shoulder will be against the feather 6. These peculiarities of construction enable the shaft to move lengthwise in the pinion while receiving motion therefrom and to provide a round unbroken bearing for the journal-box.

What I claim is In a corn-sheller the combination with a shell or concave provided interiorly with projections for stripping the corn from the cob, of a revoluble cone mounted within the shell or concave and provided wit-h shelling projections adapted to cooperate with the projections on the shell or concave and mechanism for imparting rapid longitudinal movements to the cone while the latter is rotating, sufficiently to relieve the said cone when clogged, whereby the cone may be started while the sheller is filled, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLARD O. ROWE.

Witnesses:

O. M. LYTLE, W. H. CAKE. 

